What If?
by mandybean
Summary: an alternate ending to Lord of the Rings


"I have come," Frodo said, "but I do not choose now to do what I came to do. I will not do this deed. The Ring is mine!" But as Frodo drew the ring to his finger, Gollum, who had been watching from the corner, lunged at him and knocked the ring away from his hand.  
"Preciousss! My Preciousss!" Gollum hissed as he dove for the ring, now lying on the uneven floor of the cavern. But he was not fast enough. Frodo, enraged by the absence of the ring and the power, frantically pulled Gollum away from his precious ring. Gollum turned and bared his fangs at Frodo, biting and clawing and tearing at him. Frodo fought back with a sudden rage. He had to protect his ring! He couldn't let such a dirty creature have his ring! He had to protect his precious! Somewhere in the back of his head, Frodo knew that the ring had taken control over him, but the power was too strong. He tried to fight it, but something was holding him back. The power was too overwhelming, and so he succumbed to its evil.  
"You will not get my ring you filthy creature! Your time is at its end!" Frodo cried, and with all his strength, obtained through the ring he hungered for, he grabbed Gollum by his bony leg and hurled him over into the abyss. He watched with a wild light flaming in his eyes as the echo of Gollum's cry faded away.  
  
Sam had regained consciousness and looked through blurry eyes only to see Frodo and Gollum tearing at each other. Realizing that both were visible, he began searching for the ring with his eyes, until he saw it in the corner, alight with some evil power. He struggled until he was on all fours, and crawled over to the ring, hoping to be unnoticed by the other two. Once he had the ring safely in his hand, he turned to watch his beloved master fight the creature Gollum. He turned just in time to catch Frodo watching a screaming Gollum fall off the edge of the cliff into the churning fire. But Sam knew that it wasn't the real Frodo that threw Gollum off the cliff. The real Frodo would never do that. Sam knew that it was the evil power of the ring that had control over him. Knowing what he had to do, he made a wild dash to the edge of the cliff to throw the ring off before it could do any more harm to his dear master. Remembering his precious, his ring, a wild Frodo sought it out frantically with his eyes, until he saw Sam preparing to throw it into oblivion. "No! My Precious!" Frodo cried out, and lunged at Sam with all his might. Sam grunted as he felt something slam into him and he fell hard onto the floor. Frodo looked at him with evil intent, but Sam knew that it wasn't really his beloved master. The ring—that horrible ring that was the cause of all their pain--was controlling him. He gripped the ring in his palm, but the many hits he had received had weakened him. He felt his grasp loosen and the ring get pulled away. He looked up at Frodo with saddened eyes, eyes that were quickly losing hope. He only realized that he was about to be thrown off the cliff when he looked down and saw the horrific fires beneath him. "Master! How can you do this to me? Don't you know who I am?" Sam shrieked, hoping to put some sense into his master and friend. And for a moment, it seemed to work. Frodo's grasp around Sam seemed to loosen as his eyes lost some of their evil glint. For a moment, just a moment, he was his old self again, and Sam had hope. But it did not last long. "No! Don't do this! You're just trying to get my ring! You won't get it! You won't get my precious!" And with that, Frodo took a step forward to throw his dear friend into the chasm. But something stopped him. Something inside Frodo made him stop. Instead, he threw Sam into a nearby boulder. Sam's head hit the rock, and he felt everything around him go dark. He looked through hazy eyes and saw Frodo move the ring towards his finger, his eyes aglow. Sam cried out with all his waning strength, but it was too late as he saw his master disappear from sight. Darkness engulfed him.  
  
There was a roar and a great burst of noise as the fire leaped up and licked the roof. The pulsing noise from the fire grew to a great roar. The Mountain shook and the floor trembled with the Lord of the Rings' wrath. Suddenly, a loud voice boomed through the cavern walls, the fire churning from some great power. Evil laughter filled the halls as Frodo shook with sudden fear. The Dark Lord, Sauron, laughed with such evil knowing that Frodo's fear rose like an immense cloud of smoke to choke him. His foolishness was suddenly made clear to him in a blinding flash, and his own doom was laid before him. Frodo tried to run, tried to hide, but he couldn't move. He could only watch like a statue as the Dark Lord started to fill the room. He couldn't see him, but Frodo knew he was there. He could feel the evil deep inside of him. Frodo's eyes widened and he could no longer look away as he felt, rather than heard, the Dark Lord talk to him. "So you have come at last to bring me my ring." Sauron said as he began to appear in front of Frodo. At first he was just a shadow on the cave walls, but then he began to take shape. Frodo was numb with terror as he watched the dark shadow form into a black creature filled with wickedness of every sort. He had one eye that pierced into Frodo's mind like a knife. Frodo, unable to take the presence of the great power anymore, welcomed the blackness that clouded his thoughts. His last conscious memory was the ring sliding off his finger; and all was lost.  
  
Frodo awoke in a dark room, his head pounding from the encounter with Sauron. He tried to stand up, but quickly discovered he was chained to the wall. 'So I'm his servant now, am I,' Frodo thought in disgust. 'He thinks that just because I no longer have the ring, he can control me. Well he is a fool! That is his fatal flaw. He thinks that I'm helpless now, but I'm not! He'll see! I've got more in me yet!' Frodo had worked himself up into a great rage, but then sagged against the chains when he remembered what had happened. He had failed the mission. He had failed! 'Oh, how could I have done this?' he wailed to himself. 'And what about poor Sam? My loyal manservant, my friend...I betrayed his trust. I betrayed everyone!' Frodo glared at the stone wall in front of him. 'I won't let them down again. Just you wait, Sauron, just you wait.' 


End file.
